Riverhead Mom Looks To Restart Career [Job Hunters in Riverhead]

Kathleen Kocan's story is the first in an ongoing series Riverhead Patch will run about unemployed workers looking for jobs in Riverhead. As we profile job seekers around town, we want to hear your story as well. To be featured in the series and have your resumé and qualifications listed on our site, contact the editor.

When Riverhead mom Kathleen Kocan became pregnant with her first child, she decided to put her career on hold to become a full-time mother. Now, as times get tougher, Kocan is looking to get back into the workforce.

Kocan wants to restart her career in a job that "uses the skills that [she] has to create a bridge into future skills." Kocan said she is a proven "people person" with excellent communication skills and a variety of experience with project management, account coordination, and legal work.

She wouldn't mind working a full-time job, she said, as long as the job is local; with two children to take care of, a long commute would be difficult. Kocan said her husband works in construction and the poor economy has taken its toll on his business, leading her to begin her search after a decade outside the workforce. 

Kocan moved to Riverhead about 15 years ago when the Ann Taylor Loft Outlet store, whose layout she helped design, opened in Tanger. After she was injured on the job while setting up the store, she started work as an account manager for Riverhead Motors.

She then attended Briarcliffe College to get an Associate Degree in paralegal studies to broaden her skills, and later worked as an intern in the district attorney's office, as well as a legal assistant at Nationwide Court Services.

Kocan left Nationwide after her first child's birth, but hasn't stopped working. In addition to being a mother, She has also started her own business, which sells equestrian apparel. Kocan was inspired by her daughter, who is an avid horse-rider. Kocan also spends her free time volunteering for a Girl Scout troop, and helps organize fundraising drives with the girls.